Published 10:00 pm, Friday, September 19, 2008

After months of sniping and increasingly negative advertising, Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi are scheduled to face off Saturday night in the first debate of the campaign.

The two candidates have been smashing spending records in a battle that has pulled in more than $20 million and flooded TV and radio airwaves with ads.

Going into the final push to the November election, both candidates had robust war chests.

Gregoire still had $4.2 million of the $9.7 million she had raised. Rossi has spent $4.8 million of the $8.5 million he had raised.

Polls and pundits indicate that the race will be settled by another thin margin. In 2004, Rossi came out ahead in the first two counts but lost on the final hand recount in which Gregoire prevailed by 133 votes.

In last month's primary, Gregoire led by 28,000 votes out of 1.4 million cast. She had 48 percent of the vote and Rossi 46 percent.

According to Stateline.org columnist Lou Jacobson, who regularly assesses political races around the country, Washington is among the top candidates for another nail-biter.

He noted that one poll, the SurveyUSA poll taken in early September, found the race a statistical dead heat after Rossi had trailed for months. "The shift was most noticeable among women, a potentially alarming trend for a female governor," he said.

Another poll, released last week by Washington pollster Stewart Elway, indicated Gregoire was leading by a small margin.

The Seattle P-I's Associate Publisher Ken Bunting said the debate would be a unique opportunity for voters to assess the candidates.

"We're planning an hourlong, issue-focused discussion between the two candidates for governor that will highlight the high stakes for voters in Washington state, six days before the presidential candidates face off in their first debate.

It's exciting," Bunting said. "When all is said and done, the real winners will be citizens who get a chance to see the candidates without their ad people and handlers as buffers."

Questions posed by KOMO/4 news anchor Dan Lewis, P-I Assistant Managing Editor Rita Hibbard, and citizens around the state are designed to contrast the candidates' positions on issues including the economy, transportation, the environment and health care.